Irenaeus: Against Heresies, Books I–V

probably is elsewhere, merely a contraction for “aut eum.”

Eph. i. 10 .

“Participare compendii poculo,” i.e., the cup which recapitulates the suffering of Christ, and which, as Harvey thinks, refers to the symbolical character of the cup of the Eucharist, as setting forth the passion of Christ.

John ii. 4 .

John vii. 30 .

Hab. iii. 2 .

Gal. iv. 4 .

2 John 7, 8 . Irenæus seems to have read αὐτούς instead of ἑαυτούς , as in the received text.

1 John iv. 1, 2 . This is a material difference from the received text of the passage: “Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” The Vulgate translation and Origen agree with Irenæus, and Tertullian seems to recognise both readings ( Adv. Marc. , v. 16). Socrates tells us (vii. 32, p. 381) that the passage had been corrupted by those who wished to separate the humanity of Christ from His divinity, and that the old copies read, πᾶν πνεῦμα ὃ λύει τὸν ᾽Ιησοῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστι , which exactly agrees with Origen’s quotation, and very nearly with that of Irenæus, now before us. Polycarp ( Ep. , c. vii.) seems to allude to the passage as we have it now, and so does Ignatius ( Ep. Smyr. , c. v.). See the question discussed by Burton, in his Ante-Nicene Testimonies [ to the Div. of Christ . Another work of Burton has a similar name. See British Critic, vol. ii. (of 1827), p. 265].

1 John v. 1 .

Rom. v. 17 .

Rom. vi. 3, 4 .

Rom. v. 6–10 . Irenæus appears to have read, as does the Vulgate, εἰς τί γάρ , for ἔτι γάρ in text. rec .

Rom. viii. 34 .

Rom. vi. 9 .

Rom. viii. 11 .

1 Pet. ii. 23 .

Isa. xi. 2 .

Isa. lxi. 1 .

Matt. x. 20 .

Harvey remarks on this: “The sacrament of baptism is therefore ἡ δύμανις τῆς ἀναγεννήσεως εἰς Θεόν .” [Comp. book i. cap. xxi.]

Matt. xxviii. 19 .

Ps. li. 12 .

John xvi. 7 .

Irenæus refers to this woman as a type of the heathen world: for, among the Jews, Samaritan and Idolater were convertible terms.

Judg. vi. 37 , etc.

Isa. v. 6 .

Isa. xi. 2 .

Luke x. 18 .

1 John ii. 1 .

“Suum hominem,” i.e., the human race.

Luke x. 35 .

Matt. xxv. 14 .

The following period is translated from a Syriac fragment (see Harvey’s Irenæus , vol. ii. p. 439), as it supplies some words inconveniently omitted in the old Latin version.

Comp. book. i. pref. note 4.

Again a Syriac fragment supplies some important words. See Harvey, vol. ii. p. 440.

So the Syriac. The Latin has, “in seipso recapitulavit,” He summed up in Himself . [As the Second Adam, 1 Cor. xv. 47 .]

Rom. x. 6, 7 .

Rom. x. 9 .

Rom. xiv. 9 .

1 Cor. i. 23 .

1 Cor. x. 16 .

Isa. viii. 14 .

Jer. xvii. 9 .

1 Cor. xv. 3, 4 .

1 Cor. xv. 12 .

Rom. xiv. 15 .

Eph. ii. 13 .

Gal. iii. 13 ; Deut. xxi. 23 .

1 Cor. viii. 11 .

Isa. lxi. 1 .

Matt. xvi. 13 .

Matt. xvi. 21 .

Literally, “supposing Him to be Christ according to the idea of men.”

Matt. xvi. 24, 25 .

Matt. xxiii. 24 .

Matt. x. 17, 18 .

Matt. x. 28 .

Ps. ix. 12 .

Luke xxiii. 34 .

Matt. v. 44 .

Matt. v. 39 .

“ Pro patribus , ἀντὶ τῶν πατρῶν . The reader will here observe the clear statement of the doctrine of atonement, whereby alone sin is done away.”— Harvey .

Matt. xii. 29 .

The Latin text, “et facere, ut et Deus assumeret hominem, et homo se dederet Deo,” here differs widely from the Greek preserved by Theodoret. We have followed the latter, which is preferred by all the editors.

Rom. v. 14 .

Rom. v. 19 .

Deut. xxxii. 4 .

John viii. 36 .

Rom. vi. 23 .

Ps. lxxxii. 6, 7 .

The original Greek is preserved here by Theodoret, differing in some respects from the old Latin version: καὶ ἀποστεροῦντας τὸν ἄνθρωπον τῆς εἰς Θεὸν ἀνόδου καὶ ἀχαριστοῦντας τῷ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν σαρκωθέντι λόγῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ λόγος ἄνθρωπος … ἵνα ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸν λόγον χωρήσας , καὶ τὴν υἱοθεσίαν λαβὼν, υἱὸς γένηται Θεοῦ. The old Latin runs thus: “fraudantes hominem ab ea ascensione quæ est ad Dominum, et ingrate exsistentes Verbo Dei, qui incarnatus est propter ipsos. Propter hoc enim Verbum Dei homo, et qui Filius Dei est, Filius Hominis factus est … commixtus Verbo Dei, et adoptionem percipiens fiat filius Dei.” [A specimen of the liberties taken by the Latin translators with the original of Irenæus. Others are much less innocent.]

Isa. liii. 8 .

Jer. xvii. 9 .

Matt. xvi. 16 .

John i. 13 .

See above, iii. 6.

Isa. vii. 14 .

Isa. liii. 2 .

Zech. ix. 9 .

Ps. lxix. 21 .

Isa. ix. 6 .

Dan. vii. 13 .

Isa. vii. 13 .

Eph. iv. 16 .

John xiv. 2 .

2 Cor. xii. 9 .

Jon. iii. 8, 9 .

Jon. i. 9 .

Jon. ii. 2 .

1 Cor. i. 29 .

Luke vii. 43 .

Rom. xi. 32 .

John xv. 9 .

“Provectus.” This word has not a little perplexed the editors. Grabe regards it as being the participle , Massuet the accusative plural of the noun, and Harvey the genitive singular . We have doubtfully followed the latter.

Rom. viii. 3 .

The punctuation and exact meaning are very uncertain.

The construction and sense of this passage are disputed. Grabe, Massuet, and Harvey take different views of it. We have followed the rendering by Massuet.

Isa. vii. 4 .

Rom. vii. 18 .

Rom. vii. 24 .

Isa. xxv. 3 .

Grabe remarks that the word πρέσβυς , here translated “senior,” seems rather to denote a mediator or messenger .

Isa. lxiii. 9 .

Isa. xxxiii. 20 .

Irenæus quotes this as from Isaiah on the present occasion; but in book iv. 22, 1, we find him referring the same passage to Jeremiah. It is somewhat remarkable that it is to be found in neither prophet, although Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho, [chap. lxxii. and notes, Dial. with Trypho, in this volume,] brings it forward as an argument against him, and directly accuses the Jews of having fraudulently removed it from the sacred text. It is, however, to be found in no ancient version of Jewish Targum, which fact may be regarded as a decisive proof of its spuriousness.

Mic. vii. 9 .

Joel iii. 16 ; Amos i. 2 .

As Massuet observes, we must either expunge “sciut” altogether, or read “sic” as above.

Hab. iii. 3, 5 .

This quotation from Habakkuk, here commented on by Irenæus, differs both from the Hebrew and the LXX., and comes nearest to the old Italic version of the passage.

Isa. vii. 14 .

Epiphanius, in his De Mensuris , gives an account of these two men. The former published his version of the Old Testament in the year 181. The latter put forth his translation half a century earlier, about 129 a.d. This reference to the version of Theodotion furnishes a note of date as to the time when Irenæus published his work: it must have been subsequently to a.d. 181.

The Greek text here is, κρατῦναι τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτῶν, translated into Latin by “possiderent regnum suum,”—words which are somewhat ambiguous in both languages. Massuet remarks, that “regnum eorum ” would have been a better rendering, referring the words to the Jews .

The Greek text of this narrative has been preserved by Eusebius ( Hist. Eccl. , v. 8). Grabe considers it to be faulty in this passage; so the Latin translation has been adopted here. Eusebius has ποιήσαντος τοῦ Θεοῦ ὄπερ ἐβούλετο — God having accomplished what He intended .

[See Justin Martyr, To the Greeks , cap. xiii. The testimony of Justin naturalized this Jewish legend among Christians.]

The Greek term is ἀνατάξασθαι, which the Latin renders “re memorare,” but Massuet prefers “digerere.”

This is a very interesting passage, as bearing on the question, From what source are the quotations made by the writers of the New Testament derived? Massuet, indeed, argues that it is of little or no weight in the controversy; but the passage speaks for itself. Comp. Dr. Robert’s Discussions on the Gospels , part i. ch. iv. and vii.

Matt. i. 18 .

Luke i. 35 .

Matt. i. 23 .

We here read “non pusillum” for “num pusillum,” as in some texts. Cyprian and Tertullian confirm the former reading.

Isa. vii. 10–17 .

Isa. vii. 13 .

Luke i. 42 .

Isa. vii. 11 .

Eph. iv. 10 .

Dan. ii. 34 .

Isa. xxviii. 16 .

Ex. vii. 9 .

Ex. viii. 19 .

Matt. xii. 41, 42 .

Matt. xxii. 43 .

Matt. xvi. 17 .

Matt. i. 12–16 .

Jer. xxii. 24, 25 .

Jer. xxii. 28 , etc.

Jer. xxxvi. 30, 31 .

Harvey prefixes this last clause to the following section.

Rom. v. 19 .

Gen. ii. 5 .

John i. 3 .

Matt. v. 5 .

Gal. iv. 4 .

Rom. i. 3, 4 .

In addition to the Greek text preserved by Theodoret in this place, we have for some way a Syriac translation, differing slightly from both Greek and Latin. It seems, however, to run smoother than either, and has therefore been followed by us.